So we have had a few days to sit down and mull over the plans. Iv come up with a list of 34 things to go back to P with to get clarification or get fixed.

Originally we were told we would need 123m of fencing but now we have the plans, the numbers don't add up. It's 40m shorter by their calculations. This is a pretty significant difference for expensive fencing. We have decided we will just get the neighboring fences done and do the street side later. Will have to be sooner rather than later though, the puppy needs to be secured.

We also told them to scrap the turfing and credit us back the allowance. Not so keen on the wintergreen grass so we will eventually lay some sir Walter when we win the lotto. Ha ha. There seems to be very limited yard gullies and the placement seems to be odd as well.

We are going to add shower niches in both bathrooms and put a double shower in the ensuite. It's a little too big not to have two shower heads. We also need to rejig the laundry slightly. Include the floor waste iv asked for several times that is still missing - I don't understand why a laundry doesn't automatically have floor wastes these days - make the laundry window smaller so we can hang the dryer above the washing machine and add extra noggins in the wall to allow for hanging. We are also going to cut a small amount out of the linen cupboard to allow for broom cupboard. The linen is 3m long so there is a little bit to play with.

I don't know. I would just like for P to be able to read my mind and just make stuff happen. Ha ha.

I don't want to rush the process and risk missing things but I need to get the plan finalized and the indicative progress payments/invoice sorted so we can get final approval for finance done. It's currently conditionally approved pending valuation and finalized invoice

The broker advised that it's best only to submit the one invoice for finance because each time you make changes, the run through the whole process again which includes valuing the land. Whilst we came in at cost price initially, we run the risk of the value coming in less and jeopardizing our chances of getting the finance we need and increasing the LVR.

So much to do and no one in the office to give me answers or put my mind at ease. The 9th feels so far away when I don't have holidays too. I'm just trying to keep focused on my pathophysiology course work ready for exam time Feb 13.

So we have had a few days to sit down and mull over the plans. Iv come up with a list of 34 things to go back to P with to get clarification or get fixed.

Haha! I thought I was completely finished with questions and queries, but over the past 2-3 weeks I have come up with more... thank goodness I haven't signed the contract yet, so I can still make changes

1sttimer_stoneridge

Originally we were told we would need 123m of fencing but now we have the plans, the numbers don't add up. It's 40m shorter by their calculations. This is a pretty significant difference for expensive fencing. We have decided we will just get the neighboring fences done and do the street side later. Will have to be sooner rather than later though, the puppy needs to be secured.

Yikes! Agreed, that's a huge difference - 1/3 of the overall length. So yes, that can change a $3k fence down to $2k or thereabouts, definitely worth questioning.

1sttimer_stoneridge

We also told them to scrap the turfing and credit us back the allowance. Not so keen on the wintergreen grass so we will eventually lay some sir Walter when we win the lotto. Ha ha. There seems to be very limited yard gullies and the placement seems to be odd as well.

Oh gosh. Now I feel like an eejit - what on earth is wintergreen grass? I just thought grass was grass... As for the yard gullies, I have never seen them before and had to ask P what all the FG thingies in the yard were. I've never had a house with them in, and don't quite understand what they do... but I figure they wouldn't put them in for no reason, so there must be something worthwhile about them!

1sttimer_stoneridge

The broker advised that it's best only to submit the one invoice for finance because each time you make changes, the run through the whole process again which includes valuing the land. Whilst we came in at cost price initially, we run the risk of the value coming in less and jeopardizing our chances of getting the finance we need and increasing the LVR.

Uh huh, that's what my broker said as well, to put in one set of docs to get it all approved. I've already got my unconditional approval just on the "inclusions" paperwork from P, I didn't need to have final contract etc completed. BUT my broker advised that any alterations I make after that, the cost needs to be paid by me. EG if I want to change my pantry to a half-butler (this is what I'm waiting to speak to P about when he gets back to work next week) then I have to pay the full cost of that change, as it's not included on the mortgage.

I reckon all should be sweet anyway, as I have $3k in my contract for piering and $2k for retaining, and I know for certain there's no retaining requirement, and I will know next week if there's a piering requirement, so I figure all going well I have $5k up my sleeve regardless. If those two things aren't needed, then at the end I will have $5k left over on the mortgage and I will use that to pay for the solar installation

1sttimer_stoneridge

I'm just trying to keep focused on my pathophysiology course work ready for exam time Feb 13.

Good Golly Miss Molly! What are you studying? You're brave, undertaking something like that while building a house... I can forsee 2017 is going to be a year of challenges for you!

Ha ha, I am one subject away from entering my 3rd and final year of my nursing degree. I don't like to do things by half. Last year we sold the house without an agent. This year we are building a house.

P actually emailed me saying he got my list of questions but not back til 9th. I was surprised to see anything - you're on holidays buddy, stop checking emails! I did have to go back and ask if he could address my questions before they update my plan in case anything comes out of my questions. Ha ha.

The wintergreen grass is supposed to be hardy but it's wiry looking and looks patchy straight after mowing. The websites say it's considered the best all round turf that requires minimal water once established. But I prefer the look of sir Walter grass. You pay for what you get. E.g. Wintergreen retails at about $4/m. Sir Walter goes for about $11.5/m

The yard gullies are just the drainage for your yard so the water doesn't pool in the yard. Very good to have esp so it doesn't pool up against the house which encourages termites.

Ooohhh a half butler pantry. Sounds exciting! We want to convert a small portion of linen space to broom cupboard. Lol. Not as exciting but I thought, mmm where am I going to put the vacuum and that dreaded ironing board I never use!

We plan to check out solar down the track. And water tank. So iv asked to move the a/c box up further towards the front of the house to plan for this. It was really handy working over the Christmas break because I have adobe reader/writer on the work computer so I just altered my plans myself to email back to P to show him exactly what I meant. Ha ha.

So while I wait for his reply to my ridiculous amounts of questions, I'm on the hunt for fencing quotes to see if we can get a nice street fence without it costing a bucketload. But first, I have to review the dreaded stone ridge design essentials to see what silly rules they have regarding fencing

I'm going up to the show home at North Harbour on Saturday morning, there's a new land release for sale that day so they're having the usual fanfare and free party thing, I think this time it's an old-fashioned icecream van. So I'm going up to chat to P in person, and get an icecream, and maybe maybe maybe run about barefoot on my block if the fences are down...

I'm going up to the show home at North Harbour on Saturday morning, there's a new land release for sale that day so they're having the usual fanfare and free party thing, I think this time it's an old-fashioned icecream van. So I'm going up to chat to P in person, and get an icecream, and maybe maybe maybe run about barefoot on my block if the fences are down...

I did get that email yesterday and have been slightly swayed by the thought of ice creams! Up talk to the other half and see if he wants to come out and play! Might put P on the spot and get some answers

Without sounding too weird, pleased to meet you neighbour. We are Lot 158 building with Bold Properties (Sophia 22). Your home looks beautiful, can't wait to see all the homes come together one by one.

We too are awaiting final contract as the builder only re-opened this week. We are first home owner/builders and I am only one semester in my nursing degree... how weird is that!

I haven't updated our little blog we got going on, but I will add to it one day soon.

Without sounding too weird, pleased to meet you neighbour. We are Lot 158 building with Bold Properties (Sophia 22). Your home looks beautiful, can't wait to see all the homes come together one by one.

We too are awaiting final contract as the builder only re-opened this week. We are first home owner/builders and I am only one semester in my nursing degree... how weird is that!

I haven't updated our little blog we got going on, but I will add to it one day soon.

Catherine

Hi Catherine,

Yes, Super weird! Its nice to have a contact so close! We originally looked at lot 185 and were going to build the Sophia 22 but it fell through. I am pleased it did because this corner has worked out so much better (so far!). We absolutely fell in love with the display home and those floor to ceiling windows! We decided to go with CMA because for the same price, we can get a much bigger house with better inclusions. I was a little put off by Bold (and others) because they jazz their display homes up so much to make you fall in love only to find out they are all added extras that cost a bucket load!

It is going to be so nice to finally see some progress in our release. I believe my neighbours on 166 should be almost ready to build. From what I have heard, it will be a 2-story metricon home. Emma from the sales office mentioned that she thought one of my direct neighbours was a nurse as well. They are popping up everywhere lately. We don't live in the area - we are about 15-20 mins closer to the city at the moment - so I'm keen to learn a little more about the place and where everything is.

Please send me the link to your blog so i can follow along! 2017 is going to be an amazing year!

Without sounding too weird, pleased to meet you neighbour. We are Lot 158 building with Bold Properties (Sophia 22). Your home looks beautiful, can't wait to see all the homes come together one by one.

We too are awaiting final contract as the builder only re-opened this week. We are first home owner/builders and I am only one semester in my nursing degree... how weird is that!

I haven't updated our little blog we got going on, but I will add to it one day soon.

Catherine

Hi Catherine,

Yes, Super weird! Its nice to have a contact so close! We originally looked at lot 185 and were going to build the Sophia 22 but it fell through. I am pleased it did because this corner has worked out so much better (so far!). We absolutely fell in love with the display home and those floor to ceiling windows! We decided to go with CMA because for the same price, we can get a much bigger house with better inclusions. I was a little put off by Bold (and others) because they jazz their display homes up so much to make you fall in love only to find out they are all added extras that cost a bucket load!

It is going to be so nice to finally see some progress in our release. I believe my neighbours on 166 should be almost ready to build. From what I have heard, it will be a 2-story metricon home. Emma from the sales office mentioned that she thought one of my direct neighbours was a nurse as well. They are popping up everywhere lately. We don't live in the area - we are about 15-20 mins closer to the city at the moment - so I'm keen to learn a little more about the place and where everything is.

Please send me the link to your blog so i can follow along! 2017 is going to be an amazing year!

Sarah

Funny enough I did the same thing as soon as I walked through the display home. Loved the ceilings. We have added alot and I do hold some concern re: valuation coming back from the bank. All fun and games for the next few weeks to see what happens. We too may have to start looking around for another builder then.

Hopefully will be an awesome year and hope to be inside of our own home by the end of June - but I am hopeful!!

I am not 100% sure how to link the blog, but I have just made the forum on my page - I am not even sure if that is correct.

Funny enough I did the same thing as soon as I walked through the display home. Loved the ceilings. We have added alot and I do hold some concern re: valuation coming back from the bank. All fun and games for the next few weeks to see what happens. We too may have to start looking around for another builder then.

Hopefully will be an awesome year and hope to be inside of our own home by the end of June - but I am hopeful!!

Take the time to go look at the display homes in North Habour. They have so many there (our builder included), and you won't be disappointed. They have a new stage release happening so they are doing free ice creams if you go on Saturday, lol.

We really want to get our plan finalized so we can get the final approval on finance and get all the stuff sent to council. I was hoping to be in by the end of June also - but I don't think this time frame is going to happen sadly

I found your blog. Keep us updated on your progress. I'm a nosey parker so I love knowing what's going on. I also have very little patience so all this suspense is killing me!

The salesman (P) has been super busy since he got back from holidays and still hadn't had a chance to respond to my 40 questions (ha ha). Because I am an impatient person, we went to visit him so he could answer my questions in person. Secretly we went just to sit in the air con and take advantage of the free ice-cream van they had there due to new land release. These 39 degree days are making me more determined to get this house started. The heat and no air con is KILLING ME!

It was so nice to sit down and run through things just to make sure we were understanding each other. There are only a few minor changes to be made to the first drafted plan

Change the fencing so there is no return to house on the secondary street side and a price for an additional 10.05m above their fencing allowance- we are going to do our own front fencing

Price for 2 more gullies in the yard to allow for maximum drainage

Remove turfing allowance and credit us - We will put nicer grass down ourselves

Price to made the drive way the same width from road to house

Move the letterbox over 1.5m

Add floor waste to the laundry as they are no longer standard in houses

Move the clothesline inside the garage as it would not pass covenant requirements - Saves me putting up a wet weather clothesline later as we plan on putting in a hills hoist outside

Add a broom cupboard to the linen so I have somewhere to store the ironing board I never use!

Move the a/c box outside the house to allow for future water tank placement

Make a window smaller and add extra noggins to laundry for dryer mounting

Put his and hers WIR light switches on separate circuits

Price to add extra shower head in Ens so it is a double shower

Add shower niches to both bath and ens

I had lots of questions but these were mostly for my curiosity than actually changing the plans. So when I asked P what next, he mentioned soil and contour testing - Already done (tick). So he is going to push these changes through, get them signed off and ready for HIA contract (YAY). Hope the draftsman isn't too swamped so we don't have to wait too long.

But we haven't done our colour selections yet...... Today hubby and I sat down to try and make some decisions. Ended up in our first house related argument and now he isn't talking to me. Ha Ha. We will try this again later. I ordered some colour selections off the Solver website because we are undecided on our pillar choices and our interior paint colours.

Looks like HIA signing day will also be colour selection day though because we wont be able to get too many days off work. I'm already minus 5 weeks short of annual leave for the year due to uni placement dates and hubby just had to use all his for Christmas holidays. Might need to start working on those 42 days sick leave I have up my sleeve....

I would really love to have the build started before end of February/no later than 2nd week of March. It would give us an estimated completion date of JUN/JULY.

I had lots of questions but these were mostly for my curiosity than actually changing the plans. So when I asked P what next, he mentioned soil and contour testing - Already done (tick). So he is going to push these changes through, get them signed off and ready for HIA contract (YAY). Hope the draftsman isn't too swamped so we don't have to wait too long.

Ohhhhh you lucky thing! My soil test is what's holding us up at the moment. Oh, well, that, and my land isn't registered yet therefore it's not even technically mine at the moment, so it's not like we could start building yet anyway...

1sttimer_stoneridge

But we haven't done our colour selections yet...... Today hubby and I sat down to try and make some decisions. Ended up in our first house related argument and now he isn't talking to me. Ha Ha. We will try this again later. I ordered some colour selections off the Solver website because we are undecided on our pillar choices and our interior paint colours.

Oh noooooo RE the argument! Oops! hahaha which one of you was being stubborn? Good idea re the samples, they look so much different on an A5 sheet than they do on a postage-stamp sized sampler. It's so funny, I think I found a house in North Harbour estate with the exact same external paint colours as mine! I tiptoed onto their driveway and held up my larger colour samples to their pillars and it's not a 100% exact match but gosh it's close!

It's also a great idea to pop down to National Tiles at Strathpine and ask to speak to Simon, he will show you all of the tiles that CMA have in their range and you can see them in different sizes and tones and finishes. Going there cemented in my mind that the tile I *had* chosen for my showers, I really didn't like it (they have a wall tiled in the same tile so you can get a better feel for it in a wall rather than on one tile on its own) and so I got to change my mind

VERY good idea to do this before you go to colour-picking day, because once you sign the colours doc, it says in huge letters "any changes will involve an admin fee" or something like that. I'm now waiting to see if there's going to be an admin fee charged due to me changing my mind about tiles...

Oh noooooo RE the argument! Oops! hahaha which one of you was being stubborn? Good idea re the samples, they look so much different on an A5 sheet than they do on a postage-stamp sized sampler. It's so funny, I think I found a house in North Harbour estate with the exact same external paint colours as mine! I tiptoed onto their driveway and held up my larger colour samples to their pillars and it's not a 100% exact match but gosh it's close!

He is not much of a decisions man and I am trying to make him. The heat doesn't help with brain function and decision making and how much poking he can take. ha ha. I think we have pretty much got it sorted but it escalated at the point of "should eaves be the same colour as the gutters or as the facia" ha ha. Its very hard to visualise off a small bit of paper and it looks different on the computer to what it does on the postage stamp sample. How long did it take for your samples to arrive in the mail? I did order a sample of the English Castle to see the colouring. I also ordered monument and dundee. We are having Wallaby roof and garage door so I don't know if we will go more brown to tie in with the 1200mm merbau front door or darker or more grey to match the wallaby. How hard is it to paint over render later if you decide its horrible?

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It's also a great idea to pop down to National Tiles at Strathpine and ask to speak to Simon, he will show you all of the tiles that CMA have in their range and you can see them in different sizes and tones and finishes. Going there cemented in my mind that the tile I *had* chosen for my showers, I really didn't like it (they have a wall tiled in the same tile so you can get a better feel for it in a wall rather than on one tile on its own) and so I got to change my mind

I was going to go to National Tiles to check it out but didn't even think of asking about the CMA range, excellent suggestion. I was just going to wing it and hope the ones I liked were included. So the flooring is the same throughout yes (wet areas and rest of house excl bedrooms)? Or do you get to choose a different floor tile for wet areas? I'm intrigued to see what tile options they have for the niches.

Quote:

VERY good idea to do this before you go to colour-picking day, because once you sign the colours doc, it says in huge letters "any changes will involve an admin fee" or something like that. I'm now waiting to see if there's going to be an admin fee charged due to me changing my mind about tiles...

Usually once I have made up my mind, its made up. But I'm also a forward planner so everything is spreadsheeted and worked out well in advance. Hopefully your admin charge isn't too excessive.

Oh noooooo RE the argument! Oops! hahaha which one of you was being stubborn? Good idea re the samples, they look so much different on an A5 sheet than they do on a postage-stamp sized sampler. It's so funny, I think I found a house in North Harbour estate with the exact same external paint colours as mine! I tiptoed onto their driveway and held up my larger colour samples to their pillars and it's not a 100% exact match but gosh it's close!

He is not much of a decisions man and I am trying to make him. The heat doesn't help with brain function and decision making and how much poking he can take. ha ha. I think we have pretty much got it sorted but it escalated at the point of "should eaves be the same colour as the gutters or as the facia" ha ha. Its very hard to visualise off a small bit of paper and it looks different on the computer to what it does on the postage stamp sample. How long did it take for your samples to arrive in the mail? I did order a sample of the English Castle to see the colouring. I also ordered monument and dundee. We are having Wallaby roof and garage door so I don't know if we will go more brown to tie in with the 1200mm merbau front door or darker or more grey to match the wallaby. How hard is it to paint over render later if you decide its horrible?

Quote:

It's also a great idea to pop down to National Tiles at Strathpine and ask to speak to Simon, he will show you all of the tiles that CMA have in their range and you can see them in different sizes and tones and finishes. Going there cemented in my mind that the tile I *had* chosen for my showers, I really didn't like it (they have a wall tiled in the same tile so you can get a better feel for it in a wall rather than on one tile on its own) and so I got to change my mind

I was going to go to National Tiles to check it out but didn't even think of asking about the CMA range, excellent suggestion. I was just going to wing it and hope the ones I liked were included. So the flooring is the same throughout yes (wet areas and rest of house excl bedrooms)? Or do you get to choose a different floor tile for wet areas? I'm intrigued to see what tile options they have for the niches.

Quote:

VERY good idea to do this before you go to colour-picking day, because once you sign the colours doc, it says in huge letters "any changes will involve an admin fee" or something like that. I'm now waiting to see if there's going to be an admin fee charged due to me changing my mind about tiles...

Usually once I have made up my mind, its made up. But I'm also a forward planner so everything is spreadsheeted and worked out well in advance. Hopefully your admin charge isn't too excessive.

Just make sure you are clear with CMA what tiles are included. We initially were looking at CMA but it got to the point where we were upgrading too much stuff as their standard ranges were not what we were after. If I recall correctly, we only had one tile for the main living areas available to us, anything else would be an added upgrade that added thousands to the overall cost.

Really simple I imagine! That was my theory too - if I don't like the pillar colour, that will be one of the simplest things in the world to fix! I wouldn't want to have to repaint the entire external of the house, but pillars - meh. An hour or two, tops I reckon!

1sttimer_stoneridge

So the flooring is the same throughout yes (wet areas and rest of house excl bedrooms)? Or do you get to choose a different floor tile for wet areas? I'm intrigued to see what tile options they have for the niches.

Yes, one tile for floors of whole house. Then you choose wet area tiles for the walls & splashbacks in bathroom and the splashbacks for the kitchen and laundry. At least, that's how it was for me, but I'm not willing to pay extra for tiles. I was a "standard range only" kinda girl

Yay!!!!! I do love your floorplan, all the bedrooms down one side, the huge open living area, the butlers pantry, the separate laundry... The kind of house I'd be building if it wasn't both my first home, and solely me paying the mortgage

I think this is what I am most excited about! This and the media room! We do really love the entire floor plan! Again, we absolutely don't need this much room but the alfresco, the kitchen space and the additional rooms for media, study and laundry really sold it to us. If we had chose a smaller floor plan and added on extra alfresco space, I'm sure it would have worked out almost as much!

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Have you decided on colour picking and HIA contract day?

There are some super minor changes on this one - Drawing in the fence, centring the window in the laundry, change the direction that the window opens in the pantry. Still have to discuss with hubby to make sure there isn't anything he thinks needs changing/adding. Once we get these things fixed, we will sort HIA. I'm going to try and get in before this for colours because I think we are pretty much sorted. Going to see Simon @ National tiles on Saturday because he was on holidays last week and the girl we spoke to wasn't very sure on their range. The only drama I have is that the show room is only open during MON-FRI business hours and we both work these hours. I need to save all my days off and annual leave days because i have to fit 11 weeks of placement this year into the 7 weeks of LSL that i have available (Fingers crossed the boss decides he likes me the day he has to approve all of those!)

I did sent you a PM Scubabe but i don't know if it worked. It keeps throwing out errors - Either that or you got 6 of the same one again! ha ha